From where you are
by Paula de Roma
Summary: When some pictures are found, Santana knows it s time to introduce her 5-year-old daughter to her other mother, even it means getting her heart broken one more time.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: I don´t own Glee. But the mistakes are all mine! Also a big thanks for not-all-naya-fans-like-brittana for correcting the Spanish parts! The translation is on the bottom. Also, my first language isn´t English.  
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**Chapter I  
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It was around one in the morning when Santana finally arrived home after a stressful day at work. She had just found out one of her assistant was leaking some photos and information about the models she was photographing to paparazzi, making some of her clients refusing to keep working. The only good thing out of it was that finally she was able to throw him out literally. After punching the jerk in the face, she caught him by his glittered vest and threw him on the street, He had the nerve to threaten her, saying he would sue her for using violence against him, but she knew he wouldn´t go with it. Santana was a well-known photograph and right now was doing some shooting for a very famous fashion Spanish magazine, so he knew they would destroy him in a blink of the eyes, suing him for breaking his confidentiality contract. Now the raven haired woman just wanted to get home, take a relaxing bath, kiss her daughter goodnight and sleep. She entered her living room and saw the babysitter sitting on the couch watching TV.

"Hola Carlota, perdóname por llegar a esta hora, pero hoy fue un día muy estresante y no te preocupes que yo te voy a pagar horas extra" Santana sat and rubbed her forehead, feeling a headache coming.

"No hay problema Santana, tu sabes que me encanta quedarme con la niña, ella es muy linda y yo la quiero mucho" said the baby sitter.

The girl was 21 years old and she took care of Santana´s 5-year-old daughter during the afternoon after her classes and the kindergarten. Carlota was an angel in Santana´s life. Moving to Spain had been a hurried decision, but she just couldn´t stay in New York or even in Lima anymore, it hurt too much. So when she was offered a photo shooting there, the Latina didn´t think twice. That was her opportunity for a new beginning. She sold her things, packed her bags and left, never looking back.

Having to work and take care of a six-month-old alone in a different country wasn´t easy. At first, she would take the little girl to the photo sessions, but that became a bit of a problem. One weekend, she was walking through a park thinking she was the worst mother in the world when she met a college student that had bills to pay. It was like love at first time between Carlota and baby Maria. Since then, the young girl has been taking care of the small family. Yes, she took care not only of little Maria, but also her mother. God knows how frustrated that woman could be, usually forgetting about herself when it came to her daughter, so Carlota made sure to always keep both Lopez fed and healthy.

"Santana te deje la comida en el microondas, lo siento pero tengo que irme ya que mañana voy a visitar a mis padres y saldré muy temprano."

"Aprovecha tu fin de semana Carlota y gracias por todo."

Santana got up to take the babysitter to the door and give her money. The college girl thanked the woman, but as she was leaving, she hesitated for a few seconds and then turned back to the employer, biting her lower lips and deciding if she should tell Santana about Maria´s discovery that afternoon.

"¿Hay algún problema?"

"Santana….hoy en la tarde cuando Maria y yo estábamos jugando escondite yo la encontré en tu cuarto mirando unas fotos que ella encontró debajo de tu cama metidas en una caja"

Santana felt like someone was squeezing her heart. She dreaded the day Maria would ask about her. Of course Santana said she wasn´t really her biological mother and talked briefly about her when Maria asked her why she didn´t look like Santana, but she had never told her their story and what had happened. Actually, she had never showed Maria a photo before. Santana knew this was a selfish thing to do, but she just couldn´t bear the sadness and hurt that followed after thinking about her. But she knew that she couldn´t hide it anymore. Maria was very smart, just like her mother, and she would realize who was in the picture.

"Gracias, Carlota. Voy hablar con ella…." Santana sighed and rubbed her temple. Carlota just smiled sadly at the woman in front of her, wished her a good weekend and left.

Santana closed the door and leaned against it. She felt the tears starting to sting her eyes, but she knew she had to be strong, if not for her, but for her little girl. Maria deserved to know, she was part of her, of their story. After what seemed like hours, but it was only a few minutes, Santana started to make her way to her daughter´s room. Quietly she opened her door and couldn´t help but smile when she saw the baby girl sleeping surrounded by her teddy bears. Carefully not to make a sound, Santana went to her daughter´s side and brushed some of her bangs from her face. She kissed gently the girl´s forehead, and when she was ready to leave the room, she heard a small voice calling her name.

"Mamá?" said the sleepy girl, rubbing her beautiful chocolate brown eyes with tiny fist.

"Hey, estrellita. You should be sleeping, princesa" the photographer whispered, laying her head down on the pillow and caressing the girl´s hair.

"I missed you, Mamá. Mucho" the little girl said while putting her small hand on her mother´s cheek.

Santana kissed said hand and then got a glimpse of something on Maria´s other hand. The girl was clutching a photo of a very pregnant Rachel being held by a smiling Santana. Once more she felt the tears in her eyes, and had to swallow before speaking.

"What do you have there, baby girl?"

Maria widened her eyes and tried to hide the photo, fearing her mother would get angry at her.

"Maria…"

"Sorry, Mamá. I found it under your bed…" in tears the little girl showed Santana what she was holding.

"Sshh, estrellita. I´m not mad…. That´s ok, baby girl" Santana took her daughter in her arms and sat on the bed, putting Maria on her lap, rubbing her tiny body and kissing her head till the girl calmed down. Santana then took the picture and showed her daughter "This is your other mami, Rachel…"

"She´s beautiful, Mamá" the little girl looked at the picture with a fascination that only a child could show.

"Yes, she is, baby girl. The most gorgeous girl I´ve ever laid my eyes on, of course, after you" Santana said, tickling her daughter´s belly, making the girl squirm in her arms and giggle softly.

"She has my nose…" Maria whispered amazed and caressed Rachel´s face and nose, a small smile tugging on her lips. The girl then turned to Santana, a serious expression on her face.

"She love me?"

"Oh, baby girl. She loves you so so much" Santana felt her heart break at her daughter innocent question and she tightened her hold on her, bring her to rest her head on her shoulder.

"So, why she left us?" a few tears falling from her eyes, staining her angel face.

"Don´t know, estrellita. I don´t know…" the raven haired woman whispered holding back her tears while rocking their body slowly, trying to calm down their broken heart.

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Translation:

**Hola Carlota, perdóname por llegar a esta hora, pero hoy fue un día muy estresante y no te preocupes que yo te voy a pagar horas extra** (Hi, Carlota, sorry for being late, but it was a very stressfull day, but don´t worry, I´ll pay you extra)

"**No hay problema Santana, tu sabes que me encanta quedarme con la niña, ella es muy linda y yo la quiero mucho" said the baby sitter**. (No problem, Santana, you know I love taking care of the little girl. She is cute and I love her very much)

"**Santana te deje la comida en el microondas, lo siento pero tengo que irme ya que mañana voy a visitar a mis padres y saldré muy temprano."** (Santana, I left you some food in the microwave. I´m sorry. But I have to go, I´m going to visit my parentes tomorrow and I´ll leave really early)

"**Aprovecha tu fin de semana Carlota y gracias por todo."** (Enjoy your weekend, Carlota and thanks for everything)

**"¿Hay algún problema?"** (Is there a problem?)

**"Santana….hoy en la tarde cuando Maria y yo estábamos jugando escondite yo la encontré en tu cuarto mirando unas fotos que ella encontró debajo de tu cama metidas en una caja"** (Santana, today while Maria and I was playing hide and seek, I found her in your room looking at some pictures that she found in a box under your bed)

"**Gracias, Carlota. Voy hablar con ella…."** (Thank you, Carlota. I´ll talk to her...)


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: I don´t own Glee. But the mistakes are all mine! Also, my first language isn´t English.**

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**Chapter II**

Mother and daughter stayed in a tight embrace for what seemed an eternity. When Santana felt Maria calming down a little, she pulled back just a little and whipped the silent tears falling from chocolate eyes. The small girl hiccupped before talking.

"Mamá, tell me about Mami?" Maria whispered, looking at Santana so hopefully that once more the woman felt like someone was squeezing her heart.

"I will, estrellita. But not now… it´s late, you should be sleeping" Santana said while smiling sadly at the familiar pout that she had seen so many times on another tiny brunette "None of that, little girl. Bed now" Santana got up and helped her daughter get back under her covers. She kissed her softly on her head and was ready to leave the room when she felt a tiny hand holding one of her fingers.

"Mama?" the little girl whispered.

"Yes, angel?" the photographer kneeled next to the bed and brushed Maria´s bangs from her eyes.

"Can I sleep with you?" the little girl asked shyly while playing with her mother´s fingers.

"Of course, princesa" Santana smiled and took the girl in her arms "Do you have everything you need?" Maria just nodded her head, while she hugged her elephant toy with one hand and the other around her mother´s neck.

Santana took them to her room and l laid Maria down on her bed.

"I will take a shower, estrellita. Are you going to be ok?"

"Sí, Mamá" the little girl snuggled between the covers, hugging her elephant toy.

Santana kissed her daughter´s head one more time and entered the bathroom. Slowly she took her clothes and turned the shower on. While she waited for the water to get warm, she turned to the mirror and looked at her reflection. She was only 33 years old, but she felt much older inside right now. So many things has happened in her short life. Feeling tears wanting to fall from her eyes, the photographer breathed deeply and stepped into the shower. She turned her head slightly back and let the water wash away the grime and fatigue of the day.

She knew that this day would come and even preparing herself all these years, she didn´t feel ready to dig into the past. It still hurt the same way it hurt 5 years ago. But Maria had the right to know about Rachel, even if Santana was a coward, scared to breakdown in front of her daughter and look weak. Afraid of the hurt that still plagued her every day, some days with more intensity than the others. But now, she would stop being selfish, her daughter didn´t deserved it. And maybe that´s what she really need. Talk about Rachel, about them, maybe this way she would get some kind of closure.

Once more she felt the burning sensation of tears in her eyes and now she couldn´t hold anymore. The tears started running from her eyes, mixing with the water from the shower. She covered her mouth, holding a rather loud sob back, so she wouldn´t alarm the little girl in her room. Santana fell to the floor, curling into herself, crying quietly, her hand over her mouth to stop any sound that wanted to escape, her body trembling with the force of her silent sobs. She doesn´t know how long she stayed there when she finally felt that the tears had stopped. She felt tired and cold. The photographer stood up on her weak legs and turned the shower off. She dried herself and put some pajamas. While she brushed her teeth, Santana looked at reflected one more time. Her eyes were red and swollen, but she didn´t have strength to cry one more and she felt so tired that she knew she would sleep as soon as her head hit the pillows, stopping her to think about her anymore.

Santana left the bathroom and smiled a little at the sight in front of her. Maria was spread across the bed, her head on mother´s pillow. Santana turned off the lights, leaving her desk lamp on, as Maria was still afraid of the dark. She scooped her daughter, who immediately cuddled into her, and laid down. She closed her eyes, stroking the little girl´s hair and soon she fell asleep.

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Santana was woken up by something soft and a little wet all over her face. She groaned quietly and slowly opened one eye, just to see a small mess of chocolate brown hair over her and heard girly giggles. She held back the smile that wanted to appear on her face and closed her eyes again, pretending she was still sleeping, making Maria giggle even more.

"Mamá! Levántate! (Wake up!)" Maria then continued to kiss all over her mother´s face, but Santana just kept pretending she was sleeping, and she even started snoring softly "Mamá!"

The little girl then huffed and puffed her cheeks. Then she started shaking her mother who just turned her body, bringing the little girl under her and started tickling her belly. Maria squealed and tried to escape from her mother´s arms.

"Mamá! Stop!" Maria squealed and laughed with delight. She loved being with her mother. Finally, Santana stopped her attack on her daughter and laid down beside her, kissing the top of her head and nuzzling into her hair.

"Bad Mamá" the little girl chastised her mother, and the woman just pouted and sniffed, pretending she was hurt. Maria giggled and pecked her mom on the lips "Silly Mamá. Te amo."

"También te amo, estrellita. (I love you too, little star)" Santana smiled and kissed her daughter´s forehead "What do you want to do today?"

"Will you tell me about Mami Rachel?" the little girl whispered, playing with Santana´s hair.

Santana´s smile fell down a little, but she had decided that she wouldn´t hide about Rachel anymore. She lift Maria in her arms and stood up, going to the bathroom.

"Yes, but first you, señorita, will take a shower and we will eat breakfast."

"Bath! Let´s take a bath, Mamá! With bubbles!" the girl said excited and as soon as Santana put her on the floor, she quickly undressed, throwing her clothes all over the place.

Santana laughed and plugging the tub and turned the water on, adjusting to a warm temperature. When the tub was filled, she put Maria´s favorite bath bubble and she proceeded to undress herself. Then she took the little girl in her arms and lowered themselves into the bathtub, Maria sitting on her stomach, her little back leaned against her bended legs. Maria clapped her hands happily and took a small amount of bubbles in her hands and blew it in her mother´s direction. Then she got more bubbles and spread it all over Santana´s face, creating a white bubble beard and mustache.

"Are you having fun?" Santana said amused and raised an eyebrow, receiving an excited nod in return. Maria played a little more with the bubbles and then turned to her mother.

"Were you and Mami friends?" the little girl whispered, and Santana sighed and smiled. Maria was stubborn just like Rachel and herself, she wouldn´t drop a subject till she got her way.

"No, baby girl. Not at first. We went to the same school, but we didn´t like each other very much. Actually, I didn´t like her very much."

"Not nice, Mamá" Maria frowned at her and for the second time that day told her mother off. Santana couldn´t help but smile a little, she was so much like Rachel.

"I know, estrellita. But I made up for her when we started dating and I apologized a lot."

"How did you start dating?"

"Well, like all good romances, it started with a fairytale."

"Like 'The Beauty and the Beast'"? Maria squealed excited, her eyes shining, making Santana chuckle at her daughter´s reaction.

"Well, more like 'Aladdin'" Santana answered, a faraway look on her face, her mind taking her back to her high school senior year.


End file.
